The 2015-16 season will mark Stephanie Hughes' fifth year as head coach for the Islanders softball program.

Hughes, a native of Angleton, Texas, led the 2014-15 Islanders team to their first 20-win season since the 2011 season and the squad also advanced to the Southland Conference Tournament for the first time since 2012. The team won six conference series victories during the season and concluded the regular season winning five straight, including seven of their last nine games.

Hughes arrived to Texas A&M - Corpus Christi in August of 2011 after spending eight years as part of the UTSA coaching staff, including the 2011 season as the interim head coach. Prior to that, she spent seven seasons as an assistant for the Roadrunners.

During Hughes' time as an assistant with the Roadrunners, she helped UTSA to three Southland Conference regular-season championships, including two tournament titles and two NCAA regional appearances. In January 2011, Hughes was named the interim head coach for UTSA and led the team to a 28-27 record, improving the Roadrunners' win total by five games from the year before.

Hughes began her coaching career in 2001 at Texas State as an assistant coach after competing four years for the Bobcats. During her one-year tenure, she helped the 2002 squad to a 37-22 record, including a 23-4 finish in the Southland to seal the team's second straight regular season conference title.

Prior to joining the Roadrunners' staff, Hughes served as an assistant for Navarro College and guided the team to two conference titles. As an assistant she helped with all aspects of day-to-day operations, including teaching academic classes, recruiting, coordinating travel plans and overseeing the student-athletes' academic progress.

As a four-year letterwinner on the Bobcat squad, Hughes was a two-time Southland Tournament Champion, in 1998 and 2001, also garnering a regular season Southland Conference title as a senior. She earned a first team All-Southland Conference nod in 2001, leading her team to the NCAA Regional Finals that year. Hughes received her bachelor's degree in kinesiology in December 2001 from Texas State.